Emer's Quest (Manannan Trilogy) by Michele McGrath Page A

beside the boat, standing on the water and then suddenly she was on the deck itself. She walked towards Atli, touching his face and whispering goodbye. Then she heard a slight scuffle in the bows. Curious she went forward and her heart pounded in horror. Another figure huddled there, bound and gagged but undoubtedly still alive. He had shuffled his feet, which had attracted her. She recognised him at once — Hari. His dark eyes looked at her with a mute appeal and great fear. She tried to walk over to him but every time she did so, she found she had not moved.
    Her grandfather had told her that she had a choice to make before she could go to him. He was showing her what she had to do when the time came. If she chose to leave him on the ship, he would die in the flames. If she released him, they would have to flee from Skuy . She would be the one to decide. Then the boat started to rock back and forth, as men loosed the sail and pushed it out to sea. Emer and her guide watched it glide out into the bay.
    “ I see a darkness in the water, where the ship will pass,” Emer said.
    “ Again I show you something you should know. If you choose to act, wait out on the waters and climb aboard the ship as it passes. Then you may free the young man and escape together.”
    “And if I do not? ”
    “ Watch.”
    B lazing arrows flew out into the darkness and set the sails of the ship on fire. Then the current whirled it away and it headed towards the sunset, but not before one single terrified scream rent the air. A man’s figure stumbled over the bows and he fell into the sea.
    Emer felt sick, the same feeling that she had when she had first dreamed it.
    “ When will this happen?” she had asked her guide.
    “ Soon.”
    “ How did Atli die?”
    “ No one will ever discover the truth about that, but no mark was found upon his body. You’ve little time to make your decision. These sights are for your eyes only and you must not tell anyone about them. Keep silence and you have the chance to avert what is coming, if that is your wish. Disaster would follow, both for you and for those who listen to you, if you speak. You would provoke the wrath of the gods, for not everything is meant to be averted.”
    That memory remained with Emer throughout the days and nights that it took them to reach the Landnám islands. The soothsayers had been right and the weather stayed fair. The great sail drove them steadily northward, league after league, never forcing them to change course. The air got colder and Emer was grateful for Kola’s thoughtfulness whenever she snuggled her blankets around her. Light snow fell from time to time but no rain and the high sides of the ship gave protection from the spray. Emer remained in her shelter, doing the chores she was given and then retreating again into her thoughts and her hopes to find her father.
    At li came often to talk with her and was, in some sort of way, a distraction. She made herself ask him about life on Skuy , the boatbuilding and the trading. She learned that he was a very rich man. He owned several vessels sailing as far away as the icy peninsula in the north and the warmer shores far to the south. He told her a little of the peoples of those places.
    “One day I will take you there,” he promised.
    “I would like that very much .” She forced herself to say, despite the knowledge that he would not be able to do so.
    One day she became bolder and asked him,
    “Why do you want to know about the future?”
    “Doesn’t everybody?” he answered.
    “I suppose so, but not everyone would believe the word of a stranger, act on it or plan to marry the dreamer into his family.”
    Atli laughed. “I have my reasons,” he said. “I will keep my part of the bargain and you keep yours.”
    Hari never came anywhere near Emer. He spent his time with one of the crew, old Tanni, who was wise in the way of the sea. Whenever she walked past them, Emer could hear that their talk concerned